Forgot to take the tickets!?

rbreslow wrote:It just seems kinda weird that both inspections the conductor did not collect. Is Amtrak's service becoming bad?

Please elaborate on this correlation between service and having's one ticket promptly checked. There is a continent with awful rail service called Europe where they forget to collect tickets a lot of the time. Awful systems. People can just get away with murder!

Darthdoosh, I can only assume you have never been to Europe and are basing your assumptions on the crap you read online, in magazines and online, as someone who started working on the RRs for British Rail (pre-privatisation) and subseqently various private TOCs, I can tell you that the service isn't that bad, it is alot more intense which means when it goes belly up then it affects more services making the service look worse than it is, I have also travelled through France, Belgium, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Poland and Germany, services in these countries also far exceeded anything I have experienced in the US, all of those countries also have average speeds which actually compete with road travel and are getting more investment then is seen here. With the service being more frequent and faster it means there is more ridership, take the Keystone line and imagine all trains at 12 cars packed front to back, there is going to be missed fare collection, but over there you hold you ticket until you leave the station as they do random station checks for departing passengers, no ticket equals a fare or fine, most passengers know that, and will follow the rules/guidelines.

sorry for taking the topic to Europe for comparisons, but when a statement is made it is nice to have it backed up with facts.

i think the difference is , in Europe people would complain , it would be subject to inquiry , in the USA its , oh it s amtrak , union workers , nothing can be done .

But heres my take on it. If a ticket has never been used and you just tell them "This ticket has never been used can I use the money to get home?" they will give it to you. Just don't mention the fact that they missed your ticket on the train and stairwell to the platform.

This kinda thing happens 4 times a week on septa. The conductor is on the platform, I walk on (he comes on to and sits in the cab), for the rest of the ride he never comes and when he's on the platform on the termunis he says "Hello", smiles and walks away.

rbreslow wrote:But heres my take on it. If a ticket has never been used and you just tell them "This ticket has never been used can I use the money to get home?" they will give it to you. Just don't mention the fact that they missed your ticket on the train and stairwell to the platform.

This kinda thing happens 4 times a week on septa. The conductor is on the platform, I walk on (he comes on to and sits in the cab), for the rest of the ride he never comes and when he's on the platform on the termunis he says "Hello", smiles and walks away.

WHAT????? Yes if your ticket wasnt used, then you will be reimbursed the price of the ticket and you will have to get another ticket for a specific train to come home. You just cant use another ticket for a different train. Also concerning Septa(I worked there for 8 years before coming to Amtrak)a conductor just wont walk by you and NOT collect a fare and if he walks by you, he certainly isnt going to sit in a cab since the front cab has on 1 seat and thats where the engineer is. Im having an extremly hard time deciphering what exactly you are trying to say.

Limited-Clear wrote:Darthdoosh, I can only assume you have never been to Europe and are basing your assumptions on the crap you read online, in magazines and online, as someone who started working on the RRs for British Rail (pre-privatisation) and subseqently various private TOCs, I can tell you that the service isn't that bad, it is alot more intense which means when it goes belly up then it affects more services making the service look worse than it is, I have also travelled through France, Belgium, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Poland and Germany, services in these countries also far exceeded anything I have experienced in the US, all of those countries also have average speeds which actually compete with road travel and are getting more investment then is seen here. With the service being more frequent and faster it means there is more ridership, take the Keystone line and imagine all trains at 12 cars packed front to back, there is going to be missed fare collection, but over there you hold you ticket until you leave the station as they do random station checks for departing passengers, no ticket equals a fare or fine, most passengers know that, and will follow the rules/guidelines.

sorry for taking the topic to Europe for comparisons, but when a statement is made it is nice to have it backed up with facts.

I think darth was showing some sarcasm. I think I can picture him saying this and rolling his eyes at the same time sarcastically.

BuddSilverliner269 wrote:

rbreslow wrote:But heres my take on it. If a ticket has never been used and you just tell them "This ticket has never been used can I use the money to get home?" they will give it to you. Just don't mention the fact that they missed your ticket on the train and stairwell to the platform.

This kinda thing happens 4 times a week on septa. The conductor is on the platform, I walk on (he comes on to and sits in the cab), for the rest of the ride he never comes and when he's on the platform on the termunis he says "Hello", smiles and walks away.

WHAT????? Yes if your ticket wasnt used, then you will be reimbursed the price of the ticket and you will have to get another ticket for a specific train to come home. You just cant use another ticket for a different train. Also concerning Septa(I worked there for 8 years before coming to Amtrak)a conductor just wont walk by you and NOT collect a fare and if he walks by you, he certainly isnt going to sit in a cab since the front cab has on 1 seat and thats where the engineer is. Im having an extremly hard time deciphering what exactly you are trying to say.

Sorry, if the cab is not being used and is in the middle of the train what is it? Also its never in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon they just forget, maybe they think they have my ticket.

What's the point of this thread? Besides the fact that your "friend" "apparently" got a "free ride"?

scotty269 wrote:What's the point of this thread? Besides the fact that your "friend" "apparently" got a "free ride"?

That Amtrak should be better at this. Its not like Amtrak to just skip the ticket.

rbreslow wrote:

scotty269 wrote:What's the point of this thread? Besides the fact that your "friend" "apparently" got a "free ride"?

That Amtrak should be better at this. Its not like Amtrak to just skip the ticket.

The problem is w/o knowing how widespread this is, it's simply anecdotal.

Stuff happens. Is it widespread? Who knows. This thread doesn't seem to be answering that question.

rbreslow wrote:

scotty269 wrote:What's the point of this thread? Besides the fact that your "friend" "apparently" got a "free ride"?

That Amtrak should be better at this. Its not like Amtrak to just skip the ticket.

It was sunny yesterday, yet it was raining. Should I start complaining about how rare sunshowers are? No. Life goes on. Okay. Good.

SouthernRailway wrote:This happens to me every now and then on commuter RRs around NYC. I just then throw the ticket away. Beat me up about my view if you want, but I view using an uncollected train ticket again as theft from the RR.

It's incompetence on their part.

A single day in europe can show them how to collect 100% of tickets with less staff. The fact that they wont do that means it's their loss.

(Hint: Place automatic stamping machines on platform. Require passengers to stamp ticket with date/time. So even if the ticket is not lifted, it's been "used". If passenger does not stamp, then a fine is assessed for fare evasion)

This incident seems to be a big to-do over nothing. So, an occasional ticket doesn't get lifted? No system is perfect. If this was a regular event, then it would be a problem, but this is just one isolated incident. It proves nothing. And certainly doesn't have anything to do with European ticket practices.

I got on a train at Lancaster once and went straight to the lavatory even before the train left the station. I had to go so bad that I didn't even go to my seat first, but as a result, my ticket was never checked. I felt kinda "shady" as if that's something people do purposely to get out of paying to ride the train. Although I got a "free ride" I hadn't rode Amtrak since so my ticket eventually expired.

Mod Note: No idea where we're going with this one, please PM Jeff or myself if you have something new to share.